Video: At Death Valley's Racetrack, eerie rocks, rare water

At the end of a Death Valley backroad, there's a 'racetrack' dotted with odd rocks

Twenty-seven miles from the nearest blacktop, toward the north end of Death Valley National Park, lies the Racetrack.

As this video shows, it’s an old lake bed, mostly dry now, and increasingly famous for the rocks that leaves spooky tracks as they scoot, millimeter by millimeter, across the flats.

What makes the rocks move? Researchers say it’s a combination of surface ice and wind -- but it only happens occasionally.

Anyway, it’s an eerie place and you can get there via Racetrack Valley Road, which begins at Ubehebe Crater, just a couple of miles from Scotty’s Castle. I was there in December, just after a rare rain.

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The Racetrack

Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times

This dry lake bed, peppered with rock and tracks, lies within Death Valley National Park. Photo taken in 2014.

This dry lake bed, peppered with rock and tracks, lies within Death Valley National Park. Photo taken in 2014. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)